It’s World Space Week!

Saturday saw the beginning of World Space Week! More than 1,400 events in 80 countries celebrated the benefits of space and excitement about space exploration last year; similar is expected this week with the new satellite navigation theme “Space: Guiding Your Way” for 2014.

We are all quite familiar with the use of navigation for planes, trains, ships and cars. Most of have also used some sort of personal navigation systems at some point, such as handheld GPS devices and of course our smart phones!

From the World Space Week Website, their aims each year are to:

Provide unique leverage in space outreach and education

Educate people around the world about the benefits that they receive from space

Encourage greater use of space for sustainable economic development

Demonstrate public support for space programs

Excite young people about science, technology, engineering, and maths

Foster international cooperation in space outreach and education

Many of the aims of World Space Week look into education, and getting young people into science! Education Minister Elizabeth Truss wants to inject some enthusiasm about science into schools, including topics around space. See her article here at www.gov.uk

Will you be attending an event held around your area celebrating World Space Week? The TechnoPop festival in London is holding several activities and events to support the aims of World Space Week, have a browse of their website at www.technopop.co.uk.

If space is a topic you’d like to explore at home or in your classroom, discover our hands-on resources below. Our Nancy B’s range of science exploration products are great for getting both girls and boys excited about science, helping to close the gender gap in scientific subjects highlighted by Elizabeth Truss in her article about getting young people into maths and science.